Top cartoonists in the Middle East have stood up for freedom of speech following the Charlie Hebdo attack, while simultaneously slamming Israeli and Arab rulers for their attempts to benefit from the tragedy.

The massacre at French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on January
7 led to wide public outcry, with European cartoonists drawing
numerous pictures to condemn the Islamic radicals responsible for
the attack.

But it wasn't just European caricaturists who took to the drawing
board; cartoonists from Jordan, Sudan, Lebanon, Qatar, and other
countries also dedicated their work to the 12 victims.

Jordan’s Emad Hajjaj drew a black scimitar – which symbolizes
terror – splitting in two pieces after smashing into a text
bubble reading: “Freedom of speech.”

In the most shared piece of work, Brazilian-Lebanese cartoonist
Carlos Latuff drew the gunmen striking the mosque behind the
Charlie Hebdo office with their bullets, instead of hitting the
magazine's HQ.

The king of Jordan and ministers from Egypt, Algeria, Saudi
Arabia, and Turkey participated in the Paris march to commemorate
those who died in the Charlie Hebdo attacks.

However, a new cartoon featuring the Prophet Muhammad, which
appeared on the cover of the French satirical magazine’s first
issue after the tragedy, was not welcomed in the Arab world. As a
result, Charlie Hebdo’s newest issue has been banned in Morocco,
Algeria, Tunisia, and Turkey.

In response to the publication, Qatar’s Al-Arab tweeted a
caricature which read: “Journalism is not a crime and I am
not Charlie.”